Recent developments in the area of material science, including the discovery of high-temperature superconductors like MgB2, have created a renewed interest in a variety of extremely high-temperature melting materials including large classes of boride, carbide and oxide ceramics, as well as other ceramics, metals, semiconductors and glasses. Besides their potential use in superconductor and semiconductor applications, very high-temperature melting materials are used in lightweight armor (AlB2, TiB2), nuclear applications to control neutron release (B4C, BN), wear-resistant coatings for metals and steel (Fe2B) and several other applications. Unfortunately, synthesis of such extremely high-temperature melting materials using traditional methods has proved extremely difficult.
Traditional methods for synthesizing very high-temperature melting materials call for material synthesis to be carried out in some sort of container (see, Kazai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,53). Unfortunately, the extremely high-temperatures required to produce such materials cause the containers themselves to interact chemically with the reactants. This interaction between the container and the reactants leads to the presence of impurities in the final products.
There is a need for a containerless method for synthesizing extremely high-temperature melting materials. Furthermore, there is a need for a process that allows one to manipulate the phase (crystalline, amorphous or metastable) of the synthesized product. It is often difficult to produce amorphous borides using traditional techniques. An advantage of containerless methods is that they avoid heterogeneous nucleation and thus make it easier to obtain amorphous and metastable crystalline phases.